VacationSelector
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan
The Viru Gate, Tallinn
TallinnThe Viru Gate

Photos: Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License; Tallinn by Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Samarkand or Tallinn?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Samarkand for

  • prices
  • culture and sights
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Samarkand’s own page.

Choose Tallinn for

  • nightlife
  • families
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Tallinn’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Samarkand 4, Tallinn 28: Tallinn leads by 24 points.
Food & drink. Samarkand 54, Tallinn 52: Samarkand leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Samarkand 84, Tallinn 68: Samarkand leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Samarkand 14, Tallinn 44: Tallinn leads by 30 points.
Nature & outdoors. Samarkand 40, Tallinn 55: Tallinn leads by 15 points.
Day trips. Samarkand 72, Tallinn 58: Samarkand leads by 14 points.
Good for families. Samarkand 30, Tallinn 60: Tallinn leads by 30 points.
Getting around. Samarkand 58, Tallinn 72: Tallinn leads by 14 points.
Shopping & style. Samarkand 42, Tallinn 40: Samarkand leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Samarkand 80, Tallinn 47: Samarkand leads by 33 points.
Live music & performing arts. Samarkand 24, Tallinn 50: Tallinn leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Samarkand 32, Tallinn 50: Tallinn leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Samarkand and Tallinn.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Samarkand
45match

Wins on prices and culture and sights with your weighting.

Tallinn
Best match
52match

Wins on nightlife and families with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Samarkand in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 hdaylight a day

Tallinn in July

22 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
82 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
16 °Csea
18 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

020406080100JFMAMJJASOND
SamarkandTallinn

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre). Tallinn: 1991-2020 normals, Tallin / Harku (10.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSamarkandTallinn
Official languageUzbekEstonian
CurrencyUzbekistan Sum (UZS)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCFI220 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+5UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation702 m28 m
Main airportSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinationsLennart Meri Tallinn Airport (TLL)6 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-12 days

By the numbers

MeasureSamarkandTallinn
City population546,303457,572
People per km²5,0582,871
Museums within 10 km1116
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km11
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Samarkand or Tallinn somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.